the start....

hmmm... where do i start? from the flight to lisbon, portugal to the panic experienced when the train to aveiro took longer than expected?

singapore --> london --> lisbon --> aveiro --> university of aveiro --> accommodation

this simple process took me a grulling 36 hours... flight to london was a sour-sweet experience. firstly i was assigned a seat in the middle row, which effectively meant that i was cut off from MY toilet breaks... luckily the lady next to me was a chinese (there were only 3 chinese on board) and a student too... that made my life on the plane so much easier... chatting and going to the toilet was no longer a problem =) and know what? the flight stewardess come over and started chatting with us in mandrian...

security checks in london was a absolute nightmare... that "only-one-hand-luggage" policy was strictly enforced and the fact what i was with a laptop simply made it worse.

flight to lisbon wasn't too bad, lots of empty seats and more legroom made the trip so enjoyable... the custom personnel looked shocked when he heard that i am actually going to study in portugal, well that's not a good start isn't it??..
-_-"

from airport to the oriente train station took me almost an hour... the guidebook stated only 10min... in a desperate attempt to save moolah (aka money), i tried to take a bus... after waiting for 20min, the bus driver told me that i should be waiting at the opposite stop instead... dragged all my luggage to the opposite stop and after another 30min of waiting, i found myself unable to board the bus (again?!) as it was really crowded... pissed and tired, i decided that a taxi was needed, and while making my way to the airport taxi stand, i saw the bus!! without anyone on it... seems like the same situation in singapore..."NO COME, ALL NO COME; ONE COME, 3-4 COME"

bought a ticket from lisbon oriente station to aveiro... now, i was all alone + the fact that i have like 4 pieces of lagguage made going to the toilet such a chore... even on the train, i was constantly on a lookout for my stuff... I NEED TO GO TO THE TOILET!!!

lastly, managed to get to the aveiro station, but not without some anxiety as the train was kinda late and i thought that i had missed the aveiro station when the train stopped at another station moments before that... the taxi uncle was really nice, even though i didn't understand a single word that he said... universidade dos aveiro, here i come!!

nevertheless, this did not signify the end of my journey... was initially told to stay in a guesthouse for 3 nights (since thurs is a public holiday) before i can get my permanent accommodation on friday, only to be informed at the very last min that they had found some place for me to stay... but i have to wait at the university for another 4 hours... =(

met my landlord at 8pm... nice cute looking guy who lives minutes away from the university... hey he looked like that guy from the show THE 40-YEAR-OLD VIRGIN... but cuter... anyway, i am his first ever tenant... the room is simple, as he wasn't expecting any tenant until next mon... but he did go out and try to make my stay comfortable... =)
so for 200euros per month, i have a whole apartment to myself...cos he is at work for the entire day most of the time...

that's it!! the start of my new life in portugal... well, at least that's the case for the next 6 months...